Gone are the days
when "Frailty and feeble, Thy Name is Woman!". Women, the noblest
creation of God, making up half of the world, has been gifted with compassion,
tender-heartedness, emotions and concern for others. Women plays an
all-enveloping character of a mother, wife, daughter, guide and partner. But
owing to these basic attributes they have always been considered as second to
man, and their role was always underplayed. In recent times, women have been
absolutely determined, firm and excelling in all sphere of life which ranging
from administration of a country, education, R&D, corporate sector,
defense to reaching out in the Space.
However, prevalence of social dogma and traditional factors have continuously
threaten their progress. Let us examine the women of 21st century and their
emergence in real terms while focusing on ground realities. Before that, lets
have an eye over the past.
The ideology of the
Vedic civilization "Prosperity resides there, where women are
respected" is the bedrock of the Indian culture. In Vedic times, women
used to enjoy equal status in every parlance of the society. Gargi, Mayitri in
Vedic period, Razia begum in Delhi sultanate period are few of the names one
could look upon. But, gradually this status got declined during the course of
medieval history. Due to centuries of abjection and abuse of women, the
condition of women was pitiable at the eve of independence. Keeping this is
mind, the founding fathers of Constitution enshrined the principles of equality
in Article 14, prohibition of discrimination based on gender in Article 15 and
universal adult suffrage in Article 326. But due to social and cultural
phenomena, gender inequality is also deep ingrained in the psyche of our
society and it has increasingly become difficult to get rid of these clutches.
Present day women
are characterized by self independence having footprints in almost all the
arenas. Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto in politics; Kalpana
Chawla, Sunita Williams in space; Mother Teresa in social services; Chanda
Kocchar(ICICI), Indra Nooyi, Schauna Chauhan, Shikha Tandon in corporate world;
Deepika Kumari, Krishna in sports are few to be named. With the advent of
Globalization and post LPG reforms in 1990s, Indian economy leapfrogged in to
and accelerating growth trajectory resulting in large number of opportunities
and quality jobs giving financial stability. This financial support has
empowered women to lead an independent life and destroyed the old tradition of
financial dependency on men. Their contribution in service sector is also
commendable. Sectors like Information and communication technology (ICT) and
financial services become the central point of attracting a large amount of
female workforce.
This era saw a rise
of few women in the top echelons of corporate sector few of them listed above.
But unfortunately, these names are exceptions rather than the norm. Though
banking and financial services sector have seen rise in female managers,
corresponding IT sector is remarked by absence of single female CEO in top 10
IT companies in India. If we skip the top level management, there is dearth of
women in the middle management for various corporate firms. Even in corporate
boards, only 1% of women find the place that too due to family reasons. Thus,
there is a colloquial 'glass ceiling' in our corporate sector, which though
seems invisible from a distance, but restricts women in their efforts to push
upward in the organizational hierarchy. What might be the possible reasons or
the scenarios causing this? Though India is a signatory to United Nations
Convention of elimination of all kinds of discrimination against women(CEDAW),
though we have many legislations like 'Equal Remuneration Act' & 'Maternity
Benefits Acts', though there are safety and security concerns of women working
in organization in Vishaka guidelines given by SC. But our society still hasn’t
accepted the changing role of women in workforce. The social acculturation
process is not letting us go from the deep rooted prejudices we have from our
generations. Their ability and meritocracy is often doubted and ridiculed in
their workgroups. Orders from the female supervisors are considered to be a
matter of pride and honor. Moreover, inflexible work hours and in-conducive work
environment makes the problem worse. Last but not the least, irrespective of
the stringent laws and policies, harassment of women at workplace is a
widespread problem. And it has plagued all the corners of government ranging
from executive to judiciary, from organized to unorganized sector. Recent case
of harassment of law interns under their supervisor judge is a testimony to
this. After having a toothless law of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (SHW),
which raises more questions than it answers,
we could hardly rely on the legislative
measures undertaken by the government. Executives like Tarun tejpal have been
accused of misbehaving with women. All of the above stories cast a shadow of
doubt on the state of affairs in the management of corporate firms .
Way Forward
There is need to
give women a fair chance to come up in their life. They have to be assured of
safety in the society. Implementation of Verma committee recommendation are a
step in this direction. Stringent laws have to be adopted for crime against
women in workplace. Ethical and moral education has to be imparted to change
the mindset of male dominant society. Improving basic amenities for women in
schools, colleges, workplace etc. could help them better. Social acceptance of
a rape victim has to be improved. Women's reservation bill would usher in
empowerment of women in India. Women reservation policy has to be extended to
other constitutional bodies. Facilities like health services for pregnant
women, crèche in workplace has to be improved. Women should be assured of their
financial independence and provided with equal share in ancestor property.
Provision exclusive to women like Rastriya Mahila kosh, all women bank (in
budget 2013), all-women recruitment drive by MNCs should be encouraged. These will
primarily recruit female employees and will provide them chance to rise rapidly
and high in the hierarchy. Moreover, Corporates should be sensitized and
incentivized for promoting female employees.
Conclusion:
The ground reality
suggests that new emerging women power is like a drop in ocean and there is a
lot of scope for improvement. They have been subjected by the society to
inequality, injustice and oppression through the ages, nevertheless, they came
out as strong being fighting against all the odds. To improve the image of
India as an "equal opportunity employer" we need both legal and
ethical frameworks. Lets strive hard for a greater women emancipation and
empowerment and shatter this glass ceiling.
"One woman can
change anything! Many women can change everything!"
Itna sab khud se likha? Good
ReplyDelete